Paper towel dispensers of the class used for commercial establishments frequently include a drive mechanism for feeding a roll of towel over a cutting blade. A lever or the like is used to advance the towel, while the blade severs a length of towel from a roll when the portion of the towel protruding from a dispensing chute is grasped and removed. The chute/blade geometry is preferably configured to facilitate cutting. To this end, the blade is oftentimes a serrated blade and the feed nip, cutting blade and dispensing apertures of the chute are suitably positioned. Such dispensers are well known. One design which may be employed in connection with the present invention is shown in U.S. Pat. No. DES 417,109 to Johnson et al. The design of the '109 patent includes a generally cylindrically shaped upper portion and a lower, forward facing delivery area for dispensing towel.
It is well known in the art to provide towel dispensers with a dispensing mechanism including a drive roll coupled to a reciprocating operating lever. In this respect there is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,125 to Tucker et al. a towel dispenser provided with a reciprocating lever. The lever is coupled to a pair of gear racks internal to the dispenser. These gear racks each engage a respective drive gear, one of which is idle during operation, depending on the stroke direction. This action is achieved through a plurality of engagement mechanisms as can be seen in the '125 patent. See also Canadian Patent No. 918,610 and 918,611 also to Tucker et al.
Towel dispensers of the type used in a commercial establishments frequently include those adapted to dispense towels from a primary roll and a reserve roll. These dispensers typically include a rotatable dispensing drive roller and a means for feeding the sheet material from the reserve roll when the primary roll is depleted. In this respect, there is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,912 to Perrin et al. a dispenser including a rotatable dispensing roller with a groove, sensing means for entering the groove when sheet material from the primary roll is depleted and tucker means responsive to movement of the sensing means to engage the reserve roll of sheet material and introduce it into a nip between rotatable rollers. That is to say, when the primary roll becomes depleted the tucker means will urge material from the reserve roll into the nip between the nip and drive roll to start dispensing from the reserve roll of paper towel. Such towel dispensers may or may not include a push-bar. See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,822 to Morand et al.
Despite many advances in the art, drawbacks of existing dispensers include wrinkling and binding of towel during of the dispensing process as well as expense in terms of materials and labor for assembling intricate feed or switching systems. Moreover, existing dispensers tend to have levers and open areas which can lead to microbial contamination of hands after washing or can lead to microbial contamination of towel before it is dispensed. The present invention provides an improved push-bar, low weight drive mechanism which reduces wrinkling. Housing and parts are injection molded to reduce parts and promote a more hygienic enclosure. In further aspects of the invention, the dispensing chute is textured to reduce friction and binding of towel to the chute surface as towel is dispensed. The various improvements of the invention are readily employed in connection with dispensers of the class generally described above.